Performance
Management in
Today’s World

Thoughts on what’s changed
and how to change with it.

It is clear, that the past few years have forced us to look at traditional HR Processes, performance reviews, and work environments differently. The nature of work has changed, the nature of manager-employee relationships and interactions has changed, and the nature of teamwork has changed. Core people-related work processes and work habits need to adapt. Below are examples of traditional practices that will probably need to evolve.

Suffice it to say, your employees even those not directly affected by the health emergency are not operating at their best. “Now, in the wake of a global pandemic and economic crisis, performance reviews present an even greater challenge. “People are wrestling with uncertainty and existential dread,” says Mark Mortinsen, Assistant Professor of Organization Behavior at INSEAD.

When it comes to evaluating their job performance, “there’s no template and it’s not one size fits all,” says Anna Tavis, a clinical associate professor of human capital management at New York University and an editor at People + Strategy, a journal for HR executives. “Everyone is stretched in their own way.”

Successful companies have acknowledged and re-invented themselves accordingly. It is important to ask the following questions as you prepare for managing performance moving forward.

1. To what extent are you clear in your purpose? Think about why you’re conducting these reviews in the first place. You’re not necessarily looking to weed out poor performers or decide who gets a raise. Rather, it’s to strengthen your organization’s culture and reinforce its values.
2. To what extent are you certain about what you’re evaluating? – Be clear in your mind what you’re basing your assessment on. Are performance goals still valid? “From a principled standpoint, re-think what’s most important.”
3. To what extent have your traditional performance review cycles been reevaluated and more “real-time” feedback sessions implemented? The days of a once-a-year “event” should be long gone.
4. To what extent have you provided managers with refreshed training to help them perform their role in a “hybrid/virtual environment?
5. To what extent are you demonstrating compassion? – Fully acknowledge the vastly different and varying circumstances your team members are operating under. With your team members working in more “hybrid environments, your approach may call for a little more flexibility, a little more heart, and a little more leniency.
6. To what extent are HR Functions transformed, equipped, and ready to play their role? Facilitating and coaching managers and employees on performance reviews in new ways.
7. To what extent are you optimizing the functionality of your automated Talent Management systems? Enhanced Manager and Employee Self-Service should be fully utilized.

8. To what extent are key cultural attributes aligned with building skills, competencies, and reinforcing behaviors in the evolving work environment

The time is right for companies to take a closer look at their Performance Review Processes and Practices. Seek a quick audit process geared to identifying improvement opportunities, better connection with rewards, and help set priority focus areas.